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Sustainability
Trading in virtual water
Posted on 13 Dec, 2019 09:12 AMThe recent trade war between the United States and China was, among other things, about virtual water - the hidden water in products. Producing anything, whether it is soyabean or clothes, uses water, and has a water footprint.
![A farmer uses a hosepipe to irrigate crops at her farm in Nilgiris mountains, Tamil Nadu (Image: Hamish John Appleby for IWMI, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/farmer-crop-irrigation.jpg?itok=DDYpBxSG)
Replacing rice will improve India’s climate resilience
Posted on 11 Dec, 2019 11:50 AMA new study finds that introducing coarse cereals such as millet and sorghum could improve India’s national food supply in many ways.
![Rice field in Karnataka (Image: Guldem Ustun, Flickr Commons, CC BY 2.0)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/rice-karnataka.jpg?itok=wdupTeYL)
Holistic approach needed to clean the Ganga
Posted on 06 Dec, 2019 10:39 AMThe National Mission for Cleaning Ganga was set up in 2014 and the Namami Gange programme was launched the year after, with a budget outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore. The implementation of the flagship programme was followed by the framing of a draft National River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Bill, 2019 to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament.
![Distant snow clad mountains, the smaller hills and the Ganga river (Image: Srimoyee Banerjee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/1440px-indias_natural_beauty.jpg?itok=6q-yAISD)
In wake of climate change, prioritise and invest in water security and clean drinking water
Posted on 04 Dec, 2019 05:33 PMWhile climate activists and world leaders were gathering in Paris in the first week of December 2015 to discuss the impact of climate change, the metropolis Chennai in the southern corner of India was inundated with floods.
![Image credit: WaterAid/Prashanth Vishwanathan](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/prashanth_vishwanathan.jpg?itok=S5-Gt8M6)
Water stewardship approach to minimizing risks for businesses
Posted on 02 Dec, 2019 03:53 PMWater, its use, availability, and impact on people has been on the public policy debate centerstage for the past several years. In India, a growing water crisis driven by climate change, inefficiency, and water pollution is slowly moving to a near-permanent state that will harm the country’s people, economy and environment.
![Picture credit: Romit Sen](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/pic_1.jpg?itok=zGulaIQQ)
Shoddy impact assessments, mining and ruin in Goa
Posted on 22 Nov, 2019 03:40 PMDevelopment and its impact on the environment has long been a contentious issue in India, where lack of adequate monitoring and control mechanisms have led to severe degradation of land, water and forest resources. Mining activities in Goa have not only poisoned its land and water, but also affected livelihoods by negatively impacting agriculture, fisheries and forests.
![A mining site in India (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/goa_mining.jpg?itok=56GetyHC)
Jaipur’s wastewater conundrum
Posted on 21 Nov, 2019 12:29 PMA major area of concern currently for India is the proper disposal of wastewater in urban areas. The huge increase in supply of potable water to cater to the needs of modern urban households has correspondingly increased the quantum of wastewater.
![Routine check done by the sewage treatment plant staff in Delawas, Jaipur. The plant is part of the ADB best practices projects list. (Image: Asian Development Bank, Flickr Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/jaipur-stp.jpg?itok=RTKIpq8b)
BWSSB’s workforce woefully inadequate, says Chairman Tushar Girinath
Posted on 18 Nov, 2019 02:49 PM“It is a lack of (institutional) capacity which is leading to public woes on water. We are not in a position to give you quality services because of two things – one, manpower, and two, finances,” said BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath, speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Sustainable, Equitable Access to Water’.
![Image credit: Citizen Matters](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/water1-1.jpg?itok=P2nKE6ff)
Climate change may reduce water available to cool power plants
Posted on 14 Nov, 2019 03:03 PMClimate change and over-exploited river basins may leave developing countries in Asia, such as India and China, without enough water to cool power plants in the near future, according to a study.
![Tuticorin power plant in Tamil Nadu (Image: Ram Kumar, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 2.0)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/1449px-tuticorin_thermal_power_station_at_night_1.jpg?itok=UKItWDfS)
Climate shocks and gender vulnerabilities in the Upper Ganga basin
Posted on 11 Nov, 2019 10:40 AMSocially constructed notions of the different roles and responsibilities of men and women have a huge bearing on access to and control over resources, and subsequently on their vulnerabilities. More often than not, this leads to vulnerabilities that are skewed towards women, more than men.
![Ganga's riverflow at Rishikesh in Uttarakhand (Image courtesy: Ankit Singh; Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/rishikesh_uttarakhand.jpg?itok=AO6hz0nM)